Reviews

Legally Blonde

Music & Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin. Book: Heather Hach. Savoyards (Qld). Director: Johanna Toia. Musical Director: Mark Beilby. Choreographer: Jo Badenhorst. Iona Performing Arts Centre, Wynnum. 5-19 March 2016

Girl-power musicals weren’t born with Legally Blonde but the show has done more than its fair share to keep the franchise going. An average success on Broadway, and a monster hit in London, the musical has been embraced by community theatre companies around the country and it’s now Savoyards’ turn, in a first-class production by director Johanna Toia.

 

High Fidelity

Book by David Lindsay-Abaire, lyrics by Amanda Green, and music by Tom Kitt. Directed by Kristen Twynam-Perkins. Roleystone Theatre, WA. Mar 4-19, 2016

I am told that Opening Night at High Fidelity required some hefty discounting to create a decent crowd. By night #2, word of mouth had led to an almost full house, with audience loving this quirky but moving musical.

Mark Vincent – Best So Far

Queensland Pops Orchestra. Conductor: Patrick Pickett. Concert Hall, QPAC. 5 March 2016

Mark Vincent fans were out in force for this concert by the Queensland Pops Orchestra, their first for the year. Vincent, who’s the only classical artist in Australian history to have released six albums before he was twenty (he’s only 23 now), has a legion of followers who can’t get enough of his signature brand of Neopolitan love songs, opera arias, and musical theatre power-ballads.

Mary Poppins

Music & Lyrics: Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman. Additional Music & Lyrics: George Stiles & Anthony Drewe. Book: Julian Fellowes. Redcliffe Musical Theatre (Qld). Director: Madeleine Johns. Musical Director: Lucas D. Lynch. Choreography: Mike Lapot & Meredith Johns. Redcliffe Cultural Centre. 4-20 March 2016

At only eight years old, Redcliffe Musical Theatre are a young company by community theatre standards in Brisbane, and over the years they have always been ambitious, never shied away from the daunting, and have come through with flying colours on several occasions. But with Mary Poppins the company came of age. It’s by far their best production to date.

Arj Barker

Adelaide Fringe. Arts Theatre. March 5th – 13th, 2016

Arj Barker has been bringing his brand of comedy to Australia for over twenty years. It is fair to say that he has built up a following based on his observations and unique casual delivery. As he walks on stage to rapturous applause he undoubtedly feels the pressure to perform, but does not show it. Barker is comfortable in his surroundings and reads the audience well.

The Addams Family – The Broadway Musical

Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, score by Andrew Lippa. Gosford Musical Society. Director: Daryl Kirkness. Musical Director: Bronwynne Anderson. Choreographer: Karen Snook. Laycock Street Theatre. March 4-19, 2016

There is little doubt that black humour is abundantly fertile territory. Turn every nicety on its head – and the in-jokes just keep giving.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

By Jay Presson Allen, adapted from the novel by Muriel Spark. The Mount Players. Director: Andrew Meldrum. Mountview Theatre, Macedon. February 26 – March 13, 2016

This is such an interesting and complex play that can be accessed on a number of levels.  Above all it is a fascinating and entertaining story that is certainly worth catching – if you are not too far from Macedon.

It is comfortably presented and beautifully produced (Allie Clare) on Jubilee Hall’s lovely deep stage by resident Theatre Company The Mount Players.

Murder in Company

By Philip King. KADS. Directed by Christine Ellis. Town Hall Theatre, Kalamunda, WA. 26 Feb - 19 Mar, 2016

KADS' Murder in Company was a step back in time for this reviewer. My first experiences of community theatre took place during the 1970s with actors dressed similarly to those in Murder in Company, doing plays similar to the play within a play, that this company are presenting. Well done to the creative team and cast for recreating this world so precisely.

A lovely ensemble feel emanated from this group, with some notable performances.

RENT

By Jonathan Larson. Beenleigh Theatre Group. Crete Street Theatre, Beenleigh. 27 February - 12 March 2016

Sometimes in amateur theatre there is a production that will rival professional performances. For me, RENT at Beenleigh Theatre Group is such a production.

Violet

Music Jeanine Tesori. Music and lyrics by Brian Crawley. Blue Saint Productions. Directed by Mitchel Butel. Chapel off Chapel. March 3 – 20, 2016

That rarest of creatures - an intelligent, perfectly formed, sublime musical with something profound and uplifting to say - is as rare as the wildflower its heroine is named after. And yet (after years of waiting for some of us Musical Theatre Tragics), here it is at the beautifully refurbished Chapel off Chapel, with the  acclaimed award winning production from Blue Saint Productions, and we are all the better for it.

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